Self-standing bag container equipped with vacuum and flow rate control functions

ABSTRACT

A self-standing type bag-shaped vacuum container has a self-standing container including a wall formed of a soft sheet, a pouring port, and a check valve mounted in the pouring port. The check valve is opened to allow the migration of a content of the container when subjected to a pressure in the pouring direction, but is closed when subjected to a pressure in a filling direction, so that the inside of the container is evacuated. The self-standing container can be optimized for storing beverages or the like which are negatively effected by contact with air, because the content will be oxidized with the air. The vacuum type container will not lose its self-standing property even if the content is reduced, and can stand stably by itself.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a self-standing container such as aso-called “stand pouch” which can stand by itself when its bottom isexpanded by being filled with a content and, more particularly, to aself-standing container which prevents the immigration of air or thelike by blocking the inflow of the air with a check valve and whichprevents any discharge of the content even at an accidental impact orthe like.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

In the prior art, for the storage of beverages that have their tastedeteriorated by oxidation, such as wine, sake, whiskey, fruit beverages,and vegetable juices, glass bottles have been used which are sealed withlarge-sized cork stoppers or screw caps. However, these glass bottlesare heavy and brittle so that they are seriously troublesome to handle.It is, therefore, the current practice to use PET bottles made ofplastic in place of the glass bottles.

These hard containers, as represented by the PET bottles, are hardlyreduced in their own capacities as their contents are reduced.Therefore, the hard containers are highly stationary as containers andcan be used as pressure-resisting containers according to their shape.Thus, the hard containers offer a feature in that they can also be usedas pressure-resisting containers for carbonated beverages or the like.

Like the glass bottles or the like, however, the hard containers such asthe PET bottles will establish cavities as their contents are reduced,and the cavities will be occupied by air so that the contents areoxidized with the air. Therefore, the hard containers are not suited forstoring the beverages effected by contact with the air, such as wine,sake, whiskey, fruit beverages, and vegetable juices.

On the other hand, the hard containers always have constant capacitiesso that they themselves always occupy a constant amount of space, nomatter whether or not they have contents. It is easily understood howwasteful this is, if a case in which a container that is filled with abeverage is stored in a refrigerator is imagined. Where a 1 litercontainer containing 200 cc of water is stored in a refrigerator, avolume of 800 cc of the container occupies the refrigerator as wastedspace.

With an increase in consciousness of environmental protection in recentyears and, on the other hand, with a view towards getting rid ofdisposable containers, more inexpensive bag-shaped containers have beenemployed for rebottling, instead of the PET bottles, especially for homedetergents. Most of the bag-shaped containers for these purposes are theself-standing containers called “stand pouches” because they are easilydisplayed at shops.

Thus, we had an idea that the stand pouch containers are used in placedof the PET bottles, and have made various investigations. We have foundout to mount a pouring port in the stand pouch container and to attach acheck valve to the pouring port. Then, this check valve is opened toallow the contents to migrate when subjected to a pressure in thedirection to pour the contents and is closed when subjected to apressure in the filling direction.

At this time, especially the upper portion of the inside of theself-standing container formed of a soft sheet is automaticallysubjected to a vacuum by the downward flow phenomenon due to thegravitational force of the contents. By this vacuum, moreover, the checkvalve is closed when the pressure is applied in the filling direction ofthe self-standing container (to suck the contents), so that thecontainer can prevent the intake of air. In other words, thisself-standing container can be said to be a so-called “vacuum containerhaving a suction preventing function in the vacuum” for preventing theinflow of air at all times.

Here, it has been found that this self-standing container retains itsself-standing property only while it is filled up with the contents. Ithas also been found that the container has its capacity reduced andloses its self-standing property as the content is reduced, and that abag-shaped container 200 having lost its rigidity, as shown in FIG. 9,folds midway such that its head collapses, thereby raising a problem inthat the bag-shaped container falls down and is hard to handle.

The present invention has an object to provide both the so-called“self-standing type bag-shaped vacuum container” capable of preventingthe immigration of air at all times and a stand pouch type containerwhich retains the advantage of flexibility and high capacity efficiency,as belonging to that of the prior art, and which has a self-standingproperty when the content is reduced as is absent in that of the priorart.

In the hard container of the prior art, such as a glass bottle or a PETbottle, on the other hand, the pouring rate could always be controlledto be constant by gripping the container firmly with the hands of a userand by controlling the tilting angle of the bottle.

Here, the hard container of the prior art is not or slightly deformedwhen gripped with the hands, and no internal pressure is established inthe container so that the content is not vigorously discharged, but ispoured out.

Recently, however, a bag-shaped container having a cylindrical pouringport has been used especially as a beverage container. The bag-shapedcontainer is made flexible and foldable, and has its entire capacityreduced as the content is reduced. Therefore, this container is able toreduce the amount of waste by folding and disposing of it.

However, the soft container, such as the bag-shaped container describedabove, is flexible so that an internal pressure is easily established,when the container body is squeezed, to discharge the contentvigorously. This characteristic is a defect intrinsic to a softcontainer body of the bag-shaped container or the like. Therefore, whenthe content is transferred from the bag-shaped container to anothercontainer, the content is poured not by squeezing the container body ofthe bag-shaped container, but by gripping and tilting the outer edge ofthe container body, by applying the pouring port to the inlet port ofthe container without spilling the transferred content, and by pushingthe container body to pour the content. However, this handling is sotroublesome that the content will be vigorously discharged, therebycausing a spill unless special care is taken. On the other hand, a fallhas to be feared at all times so long as the soft container stands byitself.

Therefore, the present invention has been contemplated to solve theabove-specified problems and has an object to provide a bag-shapedcontainer which is freed from any vigorous discharge of the content evenif its body is carelessly squeezed and which can take the place of thehard container of the prior art, such as the glass bottle or the PETbottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, more specifically, there is provided aself-standing type bag-shaped vacuum container comprising aself-standing container including a wall formed of a soft sheet and abottom made expandable when filled with a content, so that it can standby itself, a pouring port disposed in the end portion of theself-standing container formed of the soft sheet, and a check valvemounted in the pouring port. The check valve is opened to allow themigration of the content when subjected to a pressure in the pouringdirection, but is closed when subjected to a pressure in a fillingdirection, so that the inside of the container is evacuated by thevacuum which is established by the weight of the content in theself-standing container formed of the soft sheet.

According to the invention, there is provided a self-standing bag-shapedcontainer comprising a wall formed of a soft sheet, and a pouring portso that it can stand by itself when its bottom is expanded by filling itwith a content. A check valve is disposed in a cylindrical memberforming the pouring port for preventing the backflow of air as thecontent is discharged. The container is evacuated at its upper portion,when the container is placed upright after the content is discharged, bythe downward migration of the remaining content due to gravitationalforce.

Moreover, the check valve has a structure in which a domed head has acut that is opened when a pressure is applied in the pouring direction,to allow the migration of the content, but is closed, when a pressure isapplied in the filling direction, to prevent the inflow of air or thelike. Alternatively, outward folds are formed to extend downward fromthe pouring port to the self-standing container formed of the softsheet.

In addition, the self-standing bag-shaped container further comprises ajoint structure for jointing a sheet member forming the bag-shapedcontainer body and a cylindrical member forming the pouring port, inthat the cylindrical member is inserted into a heat-shrinkable firstcylindrical sheet so that these two members are jointed byheat-shrinking the first cylindrical sheet. The container also comprisesa second cylindrical sheet including two layers of a resin layer fusibleto the sheet member on its outer side jointed in the lower portion ofthe first cylindrical sheet, and an infusible resin layer on the innerside which is fused to the sheet member.

Moreover, the container further comprises a flow velocity controlmechanism including a flow velocity control unit having a vent hole forcommunication with the container body between the container body and thepouring port, to eliminate the flow velocities of the content in theinflow direction when the content flows into the flow velocity controlunit from the inside of the container body through the vent hole.

Still moreover, the container further comprises a flow velocity controlmechanism including a plurality of vent holes opposed to each other in aflow velocity control unit so that the content flowing into the flowvelocity control unit may impinge upon itself to offset the flowvelocity in the inflow direction.

Furthermore, the container further comprises a flow velocity controlmechanism including a wall disposed in a flow velocity control unit andintersecting the inflow direction from a vent hole at a right angle sothat the content flow may be impinged, when the content comes from theinside of the container body into the flow velocity control unit, uponthe wall, to eliminate the flow velocity in the inflow direction.

The self-standing container such as the stand pouch of the invention hasthe construction thus far described so that it can be optimized forstoring not only wine, sake or whiskey, which are effected by contactwith air because they will be oxidized with the air, but also fruitbeverages, vegetable juices or other beverages. The invention canprovide a vacuum type container which will not lose its self-standingproperty even if the content is reduced and can stand stably by itself.

It is quite natural for the container like the stand pouch to be usednot merely as a disposable container, but as a self-standing containerin place of the bottle type container which has a pouring port and canbe reused. Where the container is used as the self-standing container,no matter how much it contains. The container can be kept in the uprightposition with its bottom being expanded. When the container is not used,on the other hand, it can be easily stored in a flat bag shape byfolding the bottom.

It is also possible to provide such a soft container represented by thebag-shaped container provided with the flow velocity control mechanismfor preventing the content from being vigorously discharged by internalpressure generated when the container body is squeezed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of such aself-standing container of the invention which prevents the air frommigrating thereinto.

FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are longitudinal sections of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3(a) is a diagram explaining a procedure for manufacturing theself-standing container of the invention;

FIG. 3(b) is a longitudinal section of the FIG. 3(a);

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are sectional views showing an essential portion ina jointed state;

FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are transverse sections of the individualportions of the container body while the container is being filled witha content;

FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are a front elevation and a side elevation of theself-standing container, respectively, while the content is beingreduced;

FIGS. 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c) are sectional views of the individual portionsof the container body while the content is being reduced;

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are sectional views showing an essential portion ofanother embodiment and a sectional diagram showing a container like astand pouch of the prior art;

FIG. 9 is a front elevation showing the exterior of one embodiment ofthe container provided with a flow velocity control mechanism of theinvention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of the parts ofFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the construction of a pouringport;

FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b) are sectional views showing an essential portionof a flow velocity control structure, and FIG. 12(c) is a conceptionaldiagram showing principle of the flow velocity control structure;

FIGS. 13(a), 13(b), 13(c) and 13(d) are schematic diagrams showingexample of the arrangement of the vent holes;

FIGS. 14(a) and 14(b) are sectional diagrams showing an essentialportion of a second embodiment, and FIGS. 14(c) and 14(d) are sectionaldiagrams showing an essential portion of a third embodiment; and

FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b) are sectional diagrams showing an essentialportion of a fourth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be described in connection with its embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of theinvention. A self-standing container 1 is formed of a soft sheet by anordinary method into a stand pouch and is constructed by forming apouring port 3 at an upper end of a container body 2 of the soft sheetportion. Further, numeral 4 designates folds which are formed to bulgefrom the container body 2 and to start downward from the lower end ofthe pouring port 3.

In FIG. 1, the material for the container body 2 can be selected from aplastic sheet, a metallic sheet or a composite sheet composed of theformer sheets. The plastic sheet is exemplified by polyethylene,polypropylene, polyester, polycarbonate or a nylon resin. The containerbody 2 is formed by using those soft sheet or composite sheet, byapplying the two material sheets(or the body side wall sheet members)and heat-sealing their peripheries over a predetermined width, and byfusing those sheets.

Here, the bottom of the container body 2 is fused by intervening abottom seat member 6 folded downward. When the container body 2 isfilled with a content, therefore, the turn-up portion 5 of the bottom isopened to widen the bottom sheet member 6 thereby forming the bottom ofthe container. Therefore, the container body 2 stands by itself withoutany support when it is placed in that state on a table or the like.

The pouring port 3 is provided therein with a check valve 7, as shown inFIG. 2(a). This check valve 7 is formed of an elastic material such asrubber shaped into a cylindrical structure, in which a cut 8 extendingto the cylindrical side wall is formed in the domed head. When thecontainer body 2 is manually squeezed at its trunk portion with aninternal pressure, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the pressure is applied in thepouring direction to open the cut 8 so that the content is released bythe opened communication.

Simultaneously, as the container body 2 is then released to remove theinternal pressure, the cut 8 is closed to block the inflow of air by theelasticity (or the restoring force) of the check valve 7 itself At thistime, a vacuum is established in the upper portion of the self-standingcontainer 1 as a result of the downward flow phenomenon of the contentdue to the force of gravity. In response to this vacuum, therefore, thecheck valve 7 can be closed to block the immigration of the aircompletely. By thus providing the check valve 7, it is possible toreliably prevent the content in the self-standing container 1 from beingoxidized with the air.

On the other hand, the vacuum in the upper portion of the container hasan effect of enhancing the separation between the content or liquid andthe air dissolved in the liquid according to their weight ratio. Whenthe container restores its self-standing position after the content isdischarged, the dissolved air in the liquid is sucked as bubbles upwardin the container by the standing impact. Moreover, the rising air isstored just below the check valve so that a higher oxidation preventingeffect can be obtained if the container is slightly compressed again toexpel the air.

Here, the check valve 7 should not be limited to the aforementionedshape, but can be basically exemplified by any valve type, such as areed valve type, a poppet valve type, a pinch valve type or a checkball, if it belongs to a valve type called a “check valve” or “one-wayvalve”. Moreover, these valves are suitably selected according to notonly the restoring spring force, or the elastic force but also theproperties of the content.

Next, the joint of the pouring port 3 and the container body 2 is shownin FIGS. 3(a) and (b) and FIGS. 4(a) and (b).

First of all, the folds 4 are formed from the upper end of the containerbody 2, i.e., from the formed portion of the pouring port 3 toward thebottom of the container body 2. These folds 4 are desirably formed byfolding the material sheet in advance. The container body 2 is formed inadvance by the aforementioned method into the bag shape while leaving anopening 21 at the upper end. To an inner side of a lower end of aheat-shrinkable tube 9, there is then fused a two-layered resin tube 10which has an infusible material arranged on the inner side and a fusiblematerial on the outer side in a direction E such that the resin tube 10protrudes to a desired extent from the lower end of the heat-shrinkabletube 9, thereby forming a joint tube 11.

Next, this joint tube 11 is fused to the container body 2. Then, thelower portion of the joint tube 11 is inserted into the upper endopening 21 of the container body 2, to fuse the container body 2 and theheat-shrinkable tube 9 of the joint tube 11, and the container body 2and the resin tube 10 of the joint tube 11 separately at F and G. Atthis time, the joint tube 11 is made of a thin tube so that it is easilyflattened when clamped. As a result, the joint portions(as indicated byarrows in FIG. 4(b)) between the joint tube 11 and the container body 2can acquire a necessary and sufficient fused strength.

The pouring port 3 is provided at its lower portion with a joint portion12 to the container body 2. The joint portion 12 is provided with asuitable number (e.g., two in FIGS. 3(a) and (b)) of grooves 13.Moreover, the joint portion 12 is inserted into the joint tube 11, andthis joint tube 11 is heated. Then, the heat-shrinkable tube 9 of thejoint tube 11 shrinks to be fastened to the joint portion 12 of thepouring port 3. At this time, the heat-shrinkable tube 9 having shrunkenenters the grooves 13 of the joint portion 12 thereby performing areliable action as a stopper. Therefore, the grooves 13 result in ahigher stopping effect if they are greater in number and deeper.

Where the self-standing container 1 thus constructed is used by usingthe pouring port 3 as a grip, as shown in FIG. 4(a), a pulling-up force(or the gravitational force to be applied to the container body filledwith the content) H is received mainly by the joint portion 12 of thepouring port 3 and the heat-shrinkable tube 9, and is dispersed from theheat-shrinkable tube 9 and the resin tube 10 to the fused portion of thecontainer body 2.

In the prior art, the joint portion of the container of this kindbetween the soft bag-shaped portion and the hard cylindrical portiondoes not provide sufficient joint strength, because the stress isconcentrated at that joint portion which breaks the joint portioneasily. This particular problem has resulted in the failure of the priorart to provide a bag shape having a large capacity according to thestructure. According to the joint structure in the self-standingcontainer of the present invention, however, the stress can be reliablydispersed to prevent the breakage of the joint portion.

The individual portions of the container body 2, as taken along linesB—B, C—C and D—D of FIG. 1, where the self-standing container 1 thusconstructed is filled with the content (e.g., a liquid such as water)are presented in transverse sections in FIGS. 5(a), (b) and (c),respectively. After the container body 2 was squeezed in the mannershown in FIG. 2(b) to pour the content, it is released from itssqueezing force. Then, the content flows down to the bottom (i.e., thedownward flow phenomenon) by its own weight, but the air is notpermitted into the container body 2 by the action of the check valve 7.As a result, the content and the inner face of the container body 2 comeinto a closely contacting state so that a vacuum is established in theupper portion of the inside of the container body 2. Specifically, inthe container of the prior art, which has a hard outer structure to havelittle deformation and is opened at its discharge port, allows, wheninclined to discharge the content, air corresponding to the dischargedcapacity to flow thereinto. On the contrary, the container body 2 ismade soft such that it is deformed to have its capacity reduced with thedischarge of the content. Therefore, no air flows into the container.

When this container stands erect, however, the content is concentratedin the lower portion of the container, whereas the upper portion of thecontainer has its capacity reduced as the content leaves the upperportion. It is thought that the content residing in the upper portion issubjected to both the downward force of its own weight and the forcepulled from the lower portion by the surface tension so that theinternal pressure from the lower portion becomes more negative as thecontent comes the closer to the check valve.

When the content is discharged, the self-standing container 1 becomesthinner from its upper portion, as shown in FIGS. 6(a) and (b). Thetransverse sections, as taken along lines B—B, C—C and D—D of FIG. 6(a),of the individual portions of the container body 2 in a case of adischarge of about 50%, for example, are presented in FIGS. 7(a), (b)and (c). As such, an upper portion of the container body 2 has the leastcontent, and a square pole is more clearly formed the by the folds 4 toprevent the container from being bent in the thickness direction.Therefore, the square (liquid) pole created by the folds 4 prevents thecontainer body 2 from falling down.

FIGS. 8(a) and (b) show another construction example of the individualportions of the self-standing container 1 of the invention. In thepouring port 3 of the foregoing embodiment, more specifically, a jointbetween an enclosure 14 of the check valve 7 and the joint portion 12 iseffected by a screw. In FIG. 8(a), the joint is exemplified as apress-fit type. In FIG. 8(b), on the other hand, the lower portion ofthe joint portion 12 is formed into a square section. By this squaresection, the opening angle of the joint portion (as indicated by arrowsin FIG. 8(b)) between the heat-shrinkable tube 9 or the resin tube 10and the container body 2 is made obtuse so as to make the possibility ofbreakage less likely to occur. It is further possible to expect aneffect of promoting the action of the folds 4 of the container body 2.

The section of the lower portion of the joint portion 12 should not belimited to the aforementioned circular or square shape, but can beexemplified by any other shape, including an elliptical shape or anelliptical shape having two longitudinal ends of an acute angle and canbe suitably determined according to the size or application of thecontainer.

Here, the self-standing container 1 of the invention can be folded forstorage like the ordinary container such as the stand pouch, if it isnot filled with the content, so that the container 1 does not waste anyspace for its storage. Further, the container 1 can be used many timesif it is cleaned.

FIGS. 11(a) to 14(d) show a second embodiment of a self-standingbag-shaped vacuum container of the invention.

The construction of the container body other than the following flowvelocity control mechanism is not different from the aforementionedcontainer of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of theflow velocity control mechanism features the present embodiment.

FIGS. 11(a) and (b) show a first embodiment of the flow velocity controlmechanism of the present invention. FIG. 11(a) presents a longitudinalsection, and FIG. 11(b) presents a sectional view B—B of an essentialportion. In a screw cap 15, there is fitted a cup-shaped member 19having a bottom forming a flow velocity control unit 20. The cup-shapedmember 19 protrudes at its lower portion into the joint portion 12 andis provided in its side wall near the bottom with vent holes (passages)21 communicating with the container body 2. These vent holes 21 areformed symmetrically with respect to a longitudinal section extendingthrough the center of the cup-shaped member 19, as shown in FIG. 11(b).

FIG. 11(c) is a conceptional diagram illustrating the principle of theflow velocity control of the invention. Specifically, the content whichflows (or the liquid flows) from the vent holes 21 is caused to impingeupon itself in the vicinity of the center of the flow velocity controlunit 20 in the cup-shaped member 19, for example, by the internalpressure which is generated by squeezing the container body 2. As aresult, the flow velocities offset each other to zero so that thecontent naturally drops towards the bottom (as shown in FIG. 11(c)) ofthe cup-shaped member 19. It is this flow velocity that causes thecontent to spurt vigorously from the pouring port 3 when the containerbody 2 is squeezed. It is, therefore, a principle of the invention toprevent the vigorous spurts by lowering that flow velocity.

FIGS. 12(a), (b) and (c) is a conceptional diagrams illustratingexamples of arrangements of the vent holes 21. In FIGS. 12(a) and (b),more specifically, there are shown types in which the content flows inthree or four directions and impinges at the center of the flow velocitycontrol unit 20. In FIG. 12(c), there is shown a type in which threepairs of vent holes 21 are formed symmetrically with respect to thelongitudinal section extending through the center of the cup-shapedmember 19 so that the flow from the opposed vent holes 21 may impingehead-on upon each other.

The number of the vent holes 21 should not be limited to that shown inFIGS. 12(a), (b) and (c) but may be any number if they are effective tocause the content to impingement at the center of the cup-shaped member19 or head-on upon each other. It is, however, essential that the numberand diameters of the vent holes 21 are well balanced in total (of theeffective opening area) with an opening area of a pouring nozzle 16.

FIGS. 13(a), (b), (c) and (d) present conceptional diagrams showingsecond and third embodiments of the flow velocity control mechanism. InFIGS. (a) and (b) , the vent holes are exemplified by longitudinal slits22. In FIGS. 13(c) and (d), the vent holes (passages) are exemplified bytransverse slits 22. In these cases, too, the slits 22 can be arrangedas shown in FIGS. 12(a), (b) and (c). It is, like the foregoingembodiment, essential that the number and opening area of the slits 22are well balanced in total (of the effective opening area) with theopening area of the pouring nozzle 16.

FIGS. 14(a), (b), (c) and (d) present conceptional diagrams showingfourth and fifth embodiments of the flow velocity control mechanism. InFIG. 14(a), numeral 21 designates the vent holes, and numeral 26designates a cylindrical member. FIG. 14(b) presents a sectional diagramof E—E. In FIG. 14, the cylindrical member 26 extends into thecup-shaped member 19, and the content flows from the vent holes 21toward a gap 27 between the cylindrical member 26 and the side wall ofthe cup-shaped member 19. The content having impinged upon the ceilingto have a zero flow velocity in the inflow direction fills up the flowvelocity control unit 20 and is then poured out of the pouring nozzle16.

In FIG. 14(c), a cap 23 having first vent holes 31 is further attachedthrough a retaining member 24 to the bottom of the cup-shaped member 19thereby to provide a double bottom. The content flows having been pouredfrom the first vent holes (passages) 31 such that the content impingesat a right angle upon the outer side of the bottom of the cup-shapedmember 19 to have a zero flow velocity in the inflow direction (or inthe vertical direction in FIG. 14), so that the content having naturallydropped fills a second flow velocity control unit 25. When this secondflow velocity control unit 25 is filled up, the content flows into thefirst flow velocity control unit 20 from second vent holes 32 formed inthe bottom of the cup-shaped member 19. In FIG. 14(c), the cylindricalmember 26 extends into the cup-shaped member 19, and the arrangement isdesirably made such that the content flows from the second vent holes(passages) 32 toward the gap 27 between the cylindrical member 26 andthe side wall of the cup-shaped member 19. A sectional diagram of F—F inFIG. 14(c) is presented in FIG. 14(d). It is essential that the firstvent holes 31 and the second vent holes 32 are displaced from eachother.

The flow velocity control mechanism thus constructed acts in thefollowing manner.

In embodiments 1 to 3, the content flows having been poured from thevent holes 21 or the slits 22 to impinge upon itself in the vicinity ofthe center of the flow velocity control unit 20 so that the contentsvelocity in the inflow direction offsets itself to zero. As a result,the content naturally drops gradually to fill up the flow velocitycontrol unit 20. When the flow velocity control unit 20 is fully filled,the content reaches the pouring nozzle 16 so that it can be poured. Evenif the internal pressure is applied by squeezing the container body 2,more specifically, a predetermined time period is necessary until thecontent reaches the leading end of the pouring nozzle 16. Therefore,even if the container body 2 is carelessly squeezed, the content is notvigorously discharged from the pouring nozzle 16.

In the examples 4 and 5, the flow velocities in the inflow direction areoffset to zero not because of the flow of the content poured in theinflow direction impinges upon itself, but because the content flowimpinges upon the bottom wall or the like. Especially in the embodiment4, the flow of the content from the second vent holes 32 impinges againupon the ceiling of the gap 27 between the cylindrical member 26 and theside wall of the cup-shaped member 19 so that the contents velocitydrops to zero. As a result, the content having freely dropped fills upthe first flow velocity control unit 20 and reaches the pouring nozzle16. In other words, the content has to pass through the flow velocitycontrol procedures of the two stages before it reaches the pouringnozzle 16. It is, therefore, possible to further increase elongate morethe period from the instant when the container body 2 is squeezed to theinstant when the content reaches the pouring nozzle 16.

In embodiments 4 and 5, on the other hand, the pouring nozzle 16 extendsat its lower end into the cup-shaped member 19. Therefore, even if theself-standing bag-shaped container 1 is inverted upside down, thecontent does not reach the pouring nozzle 16 until it fills up the gap27 between the cylindrical member 26 and the side wall of the cup-shapedmember 19. It is, therefore, possible to prevent the content from beingvigorously discharged when the container is in any position.

FIGS. 15(a) and (b) show the individual combinations between the checkvalve and the flow velocity control valve. Even in a case where apressure is carelessly applied to the container body 2 so that thecontent might otherwise spurt, the content does not leak from thecontainer body 2 even without a cover before it fills up the flowvelocity control unit 20.

Here, the foregoing embodiments have been premised by applying them tobeverages, but can naturally be applied to any liquid that is effectednegatively by oxidation. It is feared that a liquid having an extremelylow viscosity, such as water, leaks even through a small gap such as acut in the check valve by the capillary phenomenon. This fear can bealleviated if the container is used in the standing position as in theinvention, so that the container can be used independently from thedegree of viscosity of the content. In other words, the container can bewidely applied not only to viscous fluids other than the beverages, butalso to cosmetics or chemicals.

Industrial Applicability

The self-standing container such as the stand pouch of the presentinvention has the construction thus far described so that it can beoptimized for storing not only wine, sake or whiskey, which arenegatively effected by contact with air because the content will beoxidized with the air, but also fruit beverages, vegetable juices orother beverages. The invention can provide a vacuum type container whichwill not lose its self-standing property even if the content is reducedand can stand stably by itself.

It is quite natural that the container like the stand pouch can be usednot merely as a disposable container but as the self-standing containerin place of the bottle type container which has the pouring port and canbe reused. Where the container is used as the self-standing container nomatter how much content it has contained therein, it can be kept in theupright position with its bottom being expanded. When the bottle is notused, on the other hand, it can be easily stored in a flat bag shape byfolding the bottom.

It is also possible to provide such a soft container represented by thebag-shaped container as is provided with the flow velocity controlmechanism for preventing the content from being vigorously discharged bythe internal pressure to be generated when the container body issqueezed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A container comprising: a self-standing containerbody including a wall formed of a soft sheet and a bottom, wherein saidbottom is expandable when content is contained within said self-standingcontainer body such that said container stands unaided; a pouring portdisposed at an end portion of said self-standing container; a checkvalve mounted in said pouring port, said check valve being operable toopen when a pressure within said self-standing container in greater thana pressure outside of said self-standing container and close when thepressure outside of said self-standing container is greater than thepressure within the self-standing container, wherein an inside of saidcontainer is evacuated by a vacuum that is established by a weight ofthe content contained within said self-standing container body; and ajoint structure joining said soft sheet with said pouring port, saidjoint structure comprising a heat-shrinkable first cylindrical sheet inwhich a portion of said pouring port is inserted and heat shrunk within,and a second cylindrical sheet that is partially heat shrunk within saidheat-shrinkable first cylindrical sheet, said second cylindrical sheetincluding a resin layer fused to said soft sheet and an infusible resinlayer located inside said resin layer, wherein said heat-shrinkablefirst cylindrical sheet is also fused to said soft sheet.
 2. A containercomprising: a self-standing container body including a wall formed of asoft sheet and a bottom, wherein said bottom is expandable when contentis contained within said self-standing container body such that saidcontainer stands unaided; a pouring port disposed at an end portion ofsaid self-standing container; a check valve mounted in said pouringport, said check valve being operable to open when a pressure withinsaid self-standing container in greater than a pressure outside of saidself-standing container and close when the pressure outside of saidself-standing container is greater than the pressure within theself-standing container, wherein an inside of said container isevacuated by a vacuum that is established by a weight of the contentcontained within said self-standing container body; and a flow velocitycontrol mechanism located between said self-standing container body andsaid pouring port, said flow velocity control mechanism including a flowvelocity control unit having a plurality of passages communicatingbetween said self-standing container body and said flow velocity controlmechanism, said plurality of passages being aligned such that thecontent flowing into said flow velocity control unit from saidself-standing container body via said plurality of passages impinges onitself to eliminate a flow velocity of the content.
 3. Acontainer-comprising: a self-standing container body including a wallformed of a soft sheet and a bottom, wherein said bottom is expandablewhen content is contained within said self-standing container body suchthat said container stands unaided; a pouring port disposed at an endportion of said self-standing container; a check valve mounted in saidpouring port, said check valve being operable to open when a pressurewithin said self-standing container in greater than a pressure outsideof said self-standing container and close when the pressure outside ofsaid self-standing container is greater than the pressure within theself-standing container, wherein an inside of said container isevacuated by a vacuum that is established by a weight of the contentcontained within said self-standing container body; and a flow velocitycontrol mechanism located between said self-standing container body andsaid pouring port, said flow velocity control mechanism including a flowvelocity control unit having a passage and a wall disposed perpendicularand opposite to said passage such that the content flowing into saidflow velocity control unit from said self-standing container body viasaid passage impinges on said wall, eliminating a flow velocity of thecontent.
 4. A container comprising: a container body including a wallformed of a soft sheet, and a bottom attached to a first end of saidwall, said bottom being expandable when content is contained within saidcontainer body such that said container stands unaided; a pouring portcomprising a cylindrical member attached to a second end of said wall; acheck valve disposed in said pouring port, said check valve beingoperable to prevent the backflow of air into said container when thecontent is discharge from said container, wherein an upper portion ofsaid container is evacuated when said container is stood upright after aportion of the content is discharged by downward migration of aremaining portion of the content due to gravity; and a joint structurejoining said soft sheet with said cylindrical member, said jointstructure comprising a heat-shrinkable first cylindrical sheet in whicha portion of said cylindrical member is inserted and heat shrunk within,and a second cylindrical sheet that is partially heat shrunk within saidheat-shrinkable first cylindrical sheet, said second cylindrical sheetincluding a resin layer fused to said soft sheet and an infusible resinlayer located inside said resin layer, wherein said heat-shrinkablefirst cylindrical sheet is also fused to said soft sheet.
 5. A containercomprising: a container body including a wall formed of a soft sheet,and a bottom attached to a first end of said wall, said bottom beingexpandable when content is contained within said container body suchthat said container stands unaided; a pouring port comprising acylindrical member attached to a second end of said wall; a check valvedisposed in said pouring port, said check valve being operable toprevent the backflow of air into said container when the content isdischarge from said container, wherein an upper portion of saidcontainer is evacuated when said container is stood upright after aportion of the content is discharged by downward migration of aremaining portion of the content due to gravity; and a flow velocitycontrol mechanism located between said container body and said pouringport, said flow velocity control mechanism including a flow velocitycontrol unit having a plurality of passages communicating between saidcontainer body and said flow velocity control mechanism, said pluralityof passages being aligned such that the content flowing into said flowvelocity control unit from said container body via said plurality ofpassages impinges on itself to eliminate a flow velocity of the content.6. A container comprising: a container body including a wall formed of asoft sheet, and a bottom attached to a first end of said wall, saidbottom being expandable when content is contained within said containerbody such that said container stands unaided; a pouring port comprisinga cylindrical member attached to a second end of said wall; a checkvalve disposed in said pouring port, said check valve being operable toprevent the backflow of air into said container when the content isdischarge from said container, wherein an upper portion of saidcontainer is evacuated when said container is stood upright after aportion of the content is discharged by downward migration of aremaining portion of the content due to gravity; and a flow velocitycontrol mechanism located between said container body and said pouringport, said flow velocity control mechanism including a flow velocitycontrol unit having a passage and a wall disposed perpendicular andopposite to said passage such that the content flowing into said flowvelocity control unit from said container body via said passage impingeson said wall, eliminating a flow velocity of the content.
 7. A containercomprising: a self-standing container body including a wall formed of asoft sheet and a bottom, wherein said bottom is expandable when contentis contained within said self-standing container body such that saidcontainer stands unaided; a pouring port disposed at an end portion ofsaid self-standing container; and a flow velocity control mechanismlocated between said self-standing container body and said pouring port,said flow velocity control mechanism including a flow velocity controlunit having a plurality of passages communicating between saidself-standing container body and said flow velocity control mechanism,said plurality of passages being aligned such that the content flowinginto said flow velocity control unit from said self-standing containerbody via said plurality of passages impinges on itself to eliminate aflow velocity of the content.
 8. A container comprising: a self-standingcontainer body including a wall formed of a soft sheet and a bottom,wherein said bottom is expandable when content is contained within saidself-standing container body such that said container stands unaided; apouring port disposed at an end portion of said self-standing container;and a flow velocity control mechanism located between said self-standingcontainer body and said pouring port, said flow velocity controlmechanism including a flow velocity control unit having a passage and awall disposed perpendicular and opposite to said passage such that thecontent flowing into said flow velocity control unit from saidself-standing container body via said passage impinges on said wall,eliminating a flow velocity of the content.